By Don Oellerich, Deputy Chief Economist, Office of Human Services Policy, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Department of Health and Human Services  The Census only happens every 10 years. At that time of the census, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) wants to make sure that every single adult and [...]

On Friday, The Massachusetts Senate passed S.B. 2313, An Act Relative to School Bullying, which brings much-needed attention to the crisis of bullying and harassment in commonwealth schools. However, the bill falls short as it fails to enumerate the classes of persons who have historically and disproportionately been the subjects of bullying and harassment. Research [...]

Chris Johnson, DC Agenda | Mar 12, 2010 | Comments A tearful moment interrupted a congressional panel discussion on LGBT adoption Thursday when a gay foster parent described how state officials in Florida were threatening to take away his two children. Martin Gill of Miami and his partner are seeking to adopt two young brothers — referred to John [...]

Yesterday Congressman Pete Stark (CA) re-introduced the Every Child Deserves a Family Act (H.R. 4608), a federal bill that increases the number of qualified individuals eligible to become adoptive or foster parents by restricting federal funding for states employing discriminatory practices in adoption and foster care placements based on sexual orientation, gender identity or marital [...]

Rep Pete Stark (D-CA) is hosting a panel discussion on the “Every Child Deserves a Family Act.” Panelists will include foster children who will discuss their experiences in the foster care system, parents who have been prevented from adopting their foster children because of state laws prohibiting gays, lesbians and bisexuals from adopting, and experts on [...]

       About 56,000 census workers began on March 2, 2010 hand delivering 2010 Census questionnaires to roughly 12 million addresses across the nation, mostly in rural areas where people do not receive mail at the same location as their residence. Most of nation’s 120 million households, about 90 percent of the U.S. population, should look for [...]

Chris Johnson, DC Agenda  An adoption anti-discrimination bill previously introduced in the U.S. House is set to get a new start this week when the bill’s sponsor reintroduces it with modified language. Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.), the sponsor of the Every Child Deserves a Family Act, is planning to reintroduce the bill — which would prohibit discrimination against [...]

By: Jennifer Chrisler, Executive Director, Family Equality Council On Wednesday, Washington, DC joined Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont as the sixth jurisdiction with full marriage equality. The City Council passed the bill with overwhelming support last fall, and it was signed by Mayor Fenton in December 2009. Following the 90-day mandatory congressional review [...]

For folks who are in DC, we hope you’ll attend the briefing. For folks elsewhere, the briefing will be streamed live over the internet. Information on the live streaming will be available on www.stark.house.gov. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 2, 2010 Contact:  Family Equality Council: Jennifer Chrisler, Executive Director, 202-276-4311                                                             Leigh Whiting-Jones, 617-502-8700 ext. 234   [...]

By Gary J. Gates, Williams Distinguished Scholar, Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law   LGBT families need to be visible and counted in the 2010 Census.  Census data gives a snapshot of the LGBT community and informs many of the public and private policies that impact the lives of LGBT individuals and their families.  The Census is [...]

Every day, the men and women of the United States Armed Forces make countless sacrifices in service to our nation. These sacrifices are magnified for the 65,000 LGBT service members and their families by the federal law known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which  prohibits LGBT service members from serving openly.LGBT parents face [...]

Prominent parenting scholars Judith Stacey and Timothy Biblarz have released a new study comparing two-parent, same-gender headed families with two-parent, different-gender headed families. Their study, which challenges the presumed superiority of mom-dad partnerships in raising kids, appears in the February 2010 issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family. Stacey and [...]

The Family Equality Council is joining the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition for its 2010 Transgender Equality Lobby Day at the Massachusetts State House to lobby for passage of H1728/S1687, “An Act Relative To Gender-Based Discrimination and Hate Crimes.” We urge our families to join us and encourage their legislators to support this vital bill. Date: Thursday, [...]

Earlier today Executive Director Jennifer Chrisler was a guest panelist on National Public Radio’s To the Point discussing the current Proposition 8 trial in California. Below is a recording of the program. a2a_linkname="Family Equality Council Blog";a2a_linkurl="www.familyequality.org/blog";

Moments ago, the D.C. Superior Court upheld the decision of the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics and the right and responsibility of the D.C. Council to protect the rights of minorities from discrimination. The court’s decision rejects a proposed ballot initiative that would have prohibited marriage equality in D.C. The ruling can [...]

The Family Equality Council is excited to announce that BD Wong will be the keynote speaker at the 15th Annual Rainbow Families Conference. A Tony Award-winning actor, BD Wong is a highly acclaimed performer and advocate. Currently he plays forensic psychiatrist, Dr. George Huang, on NBC’s Law and Order: SVU. His character, Father Ray Mukada, on [...]

The U.S. State Department released a new directive which instructs embassies on how to implement new rules for Foreign Service Officers (FSO) with same-sex partners. This message is a welcome follow up to President Obama’s Oval Office signing of a Presidential Memorandum back in June of 2009. The signing, attended by Executive Director Jennifer Chrisler, [...]

Today, despite the inspirational leadership of Garden State Equality and elected leaders such as Governor Jon Corzine, the New Jersey State Senate failed to pass a marriage equality bill by a vote of 14-20. Statement of Jennifer Chrisler, Executive Director, Family Equality Council: “Today’s State Senate vote failed New Jersey’s families as well as the [...]

The Family Equality Council is thrilled that Cynthia Nixon, lesbian mom and star of Sex and the City, will be joining the kick off event for the campaign to end Florida’s adoption ban. Nixon is a leading lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) advocate, for which Family Equality Council honored her at our National Awards [...]

This article is cross posted at www.press-citizen.com. Josh O’Leary Iowa City Press-Citizen When Dawn and Jen BarbouRoske first exchanged rings 19 years ago, it was just the two of them alone in their living room, expressing their devotion to each other. After all that’s happened in the past year — court battles, press conferences and, at last, a big [...]